Retinning-machine.



EFL. BERNARDIN.

RETINNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1906.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I v v I o i W/f/VESSES; 1 +1 l/VVE/VTGR J Ayrea Z..beruardzn.

A. L. EERNARDIN.

RETINNING MACHINE;

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,

Y Patented July 13, 1909.

BSHEETS- SHEET 2.

WU /VESaSESZ @ZJZW v ATIOR/VEVJ A. L. BERNARDIN.

RETINNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED mm 22, 1906.

928,172. Patented July 13, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY A. L. BERNARDIN.

RETINNING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 22,1906. H

928,172, Patented July 13, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

"Hi1- E.

A. L'. BERNARDIN.

RETINNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1906.

928, 1 72. Patented July 13, 1909.

W/TNESSES: NVENTOR AUUR/VEKF UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

i ALFRED L. liERNARDIN, EVANSVILLE, INDIANA.

' RETINNING-1 IACHINE.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented July 1a, 1909.

Application filed June 22, a. s rial No. 22am;

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ALFR D L. BERNAR- DIN, reslding at Evansville, 1n the countyof Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have intions, freeingthem from excess coating, dry.-

ing the said coating and then discharging the said articles, means being also provided for effecting the several operations stated successively and uninterruptedly.

I n its more complete nature, myinvention. embodies, in a mach ne of the character stated, an endless conveyer, a series of article holding members, upon whichthe articles are loosely mounted as thecarriers are conveyed toward. the fiuxing and'soldering baths, automatic means for causing the car riers to firmly gri the articles before they are immersed in tie fluxing and soldering baths and another automatic means for releasin the grip of said carriers onthearticles a ter they have been coated, whereby t0 permit of the ready removalof the coated articles from the carriers.

Again, my invention embodies,.in a ma-' chine of the character stated, a means for.

imparting a' rotary movement to thewcarriers as they dipthe articles into the flux ng and soldering tanks. whereby to thoroughly imnierse the entire urface of said articles and whereby, when coating hollow caps, to enter said caps with their open ends and turn them over and to an uprightposition as they pass through the fluxing and. soldering I baths. I

Anotherand important feature of my in-.

vention lies in the cooperation with the endless conveyer and carrier devices, of means for dipping the said carriers at proper times into the fluxing and soldering solution and for agitating said carriers after they pass up out of the said solution whereby to Fig.- 6

eng ofthe machine andillustrates the fore-"- i remove 5 113115. surplus fluxingand coating substances, mechanism for adjusting the carriers to dischar e the fiuished'articles, and

cooling means t at operates on the articles after they leave the solder bath and before they reach their discharging point, whereby to thoroughly dry them before theyv leave the machine. In its more subordinate-feature, my in vention consists in various details and eculiar combination of.parts,-,al-l of which will be hereinaftertullydescribed, specifically pointed out in the appended claims andillustrated in the ,aeompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a perspective View of my mas chine looking at the tdipping side of the II machine.- Fig. 2, is a plan View. Fig. 3, is v I a. detail plan view and illustrates the camde, vices for expanding the carrier arms to grip the caps. Fig. 4, isacross section thereof on the line 4- 4 on Fi s ective view of one 0% t e chuck devices. combined therewith. is a detail plan view of the forward most carrier as about toqengage the first tilting cam and the first turnin is a front View. ofaportion o? ing in the direction of the arrow 7 on Fig.6; Fig.8, is a detail planview of a part of the machine. and illustrates one of the carrier shaking mechanisms. Fig. 9, is a crosssee tion thereof on the line 9+9 on Fig. 8. Fig.

.10," is a similar view on the line 10-10 on Fig.9. Fig. 1l, is a detailplan view and illustrates the means for drawing in the 3. Y Fig. 5,is;a per-. the cap carriers and rack. Fig. 7, i i the same lookcarrier nembersiorreleasing their grip on lii1el2--12 on Fig.11. Fig. 13, is a detail perspective view of the devices for fdrawmg in the carrier arms to release their grip on the caps. Fig. 14, is a cross section on the line 14e-14 on Fig. 6,, and shows the carrier adjusted to. dipvthecaps in the fluxing solution. ,wFi g, 15, is a cross section of the machine taken on the line 15,15 on Fig. 2

and 'showinggtheblast or cooling 'devices.

Fig. 16, is a longitudinal section of one of the carriers on the line 16- 16 on Fig. 5.

- 'In the practical ap lication of my invention; asuitable-bed. mine or. platform 1 is provided mount-ed at the opposite ends upon skeleton standards or frames 22, of suitthe caps. I Fig. l2, isa cross section on the and since the construction of all of the carcarriers and theactuating means therefor.

v I, I 928 mounted on the'plat'lbrni l and-which has a l horizontal bearing 5 that receives the r earl end of a horizontally disposed drive shaft (3,

also jonrnaled inn bracket? projected-upwardly from the front endof the machine: and in intermediate brackets 8 and 9- as clearly shown 1n Fig.1, by reference to i which it will be seen the saidshaft, at the front end carries a drivebelt 1O to -which power is transmitted in anya-pprovedmanner. At the other, or rear end,, ,the drive slla ft 3' carries a worm gear 11 that meshes with a worm; gear 12, on the rear driven shaft 4 and upon thesaid shaft 4 is mounted-v a horizontally disposed chain wheel 13 over which takesa chain belt 14, that also engages a chain wheel 13 simila-rvto wheel 13 mounted on the forward shafts, and inpractice one or both of the ipendent bearings or. the shafts maybe adjustable in the horizontal plane, to take up the slack in the conveyer belt. a V To the conveyerbelt isconnected, totravel therewith, a series of carriers, upon which the caps or other articles to be tinned are fed byhand or otherwise, and which, after receiving the caps orother articles to betinned, retain the said articles during the operation of tinning themand until they are in condition to bra-discharged as a finished product. a

It should be herestated-that in my machine, the carriers; form substantially the equivalent of the human hand and'arm in the manipulation ofthe capv or'other article to be tinned, since they first dip and thoroughly immerse the cap in theacid or fluxing tank, then lift it out'of'thetank and thoroughly shake it to remove the surplus flux, then dipand thoroughly immerse the cap or other article in the solder bath, then lift it out of the bath, thoroughly shake it to remove the surplus coating, then hold or sustain itin position to be subjected to a cooling blast and finallydrop the same, when completed, into a receiver.- a

The mechanisms for actuating the carriers to perform the various .movements above outlined, form the essentials of my invention rier devices and their operation, asthey-are conveyed isthe same, a, detailed: description of a single one'ofthe said carrier devices and the different means for successively and at predeterminedtimes coacting with the said carrier'devices will sufiice for all of said Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5 and 7. it will be seen the carrier consists of [a Ll shaped yokebearing H, fixedly eonneeted to and projected vertically from the endless chain belt in whlch is rock-ably mounted a block 15 adapted for tilting in i a plane transversely of the chain belt and in which is rotatably mounted the spindle 1(3 of'thfe rotary carrier head or ('lllH'lLlli which has a central longitudinal bore, ll?" and a c lindrical gear memberll'r for the reason hereinafter explained. I

The hollow spindle ll)? is fori'ned with an extension. (1 to which is fixedly connected, transversely t'hereofa l'lat' guide If, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

1 T1T designate'the carrier arms. in the inner ends are detacliably connected to the gear end of the chuckdorotate therewith. The arms 17-47 are parallelly disposed for a distance from their inner ends and pass through an elongated slot 18 of a block 18 slid-ably mounted on the said parallel arm portions. and atrsome distance beyond the block, the arms 17 17 are bent inwardly toward each other and formed with abrupt shoulders 1'I 17 that under normal conditions abut, whereby to loclcagainst the inner end of the arrow like-head 19 of a spreader member 19 fixedly connected to the sliding block 18.

From the contacting shoulder portions, the carrier arms extend some distance, are bowed. to permitthe coating solution to freely drop off the arms, and terminate in substantial parallel portions, whose ends, whenmy machine is especially provided for turning'caps or other hollow articles, are bent up .at" right angles to form combined receivers and gripper fingers-17l7 whose terminals are preferably forked .as at'17 to provide for the minimum contact of the said grippers with the article carried thereby.

The sliding block that carries the spreader device is connected with an actuating rod 20 that extends through-the tubular bore of the chuck and has a fixed headQO at its inner end which coacts with certain cam devices and guides presently fully explained, it being here understood that; when the rod 20 is at its inward or normal position,.the car rier arms are in a'closed position but when therod is forced outward the sliding block 18; moves with it and causes the head 19 to spread the carrier arms whereby'to cause their gripper ends to firmly contact or grip the articles to be tinned. i

Atthe part directly under the U shaped yoke 14, the chain belt has a pair of outwardly projected parallel lugs 14-14 for "engagin with guides for holding'the memguides that engage the inner side of the chainbeing'providedyfor holding the memnature of stout spring rod members whoseber 14 om tilting outward, other coacting her 14 from swinging inward. in other words.

means tlldilltll'tll) provided t'oivsustaining the bearings l-lin a fixed vertical position whereby to hold them trom transverse flexnre at points between the chain wlieels,-sa1d holding n'ieans being however omitted where the chain passes around thechai'n or belt drive wheels. y n r i llavmg thus generally outl ned the arrangement ot" the endless ct-mveyer, its act-u- 7 ating' means and the carriers joined there w th. a further detailed description of my complete machine is now fbes t explained as iollows teterring now to Figs. 1 "and 3 of the" drawings, and assuming thecarrier to be in the normal condition, that'is, with its ends closed to freely receive the cap thereon. the spreader device being now. its mwardpd sitlon and the said carrier asmovmg-m the direction of the arrow on Fig. 1, the head oi. the spreader rod QOwill now be moving into engagement. with a cam plate 2' see Fig. 3, so shaped that as the carrier moves forward it pushes rod 20 outward and forces the arrow head, ltl to the position shown at w on Fig. 3 which spreads the gripper ends ofthe-carrier arms to firmly.

grip the capthereon and thereby immovably cially formed to grip hollow caps, t

ping such articles. n

From the point where the caps pass between the cooling devices hereinafter referred to around to the front end of thc di'pping side of the machine, the carriers are held in a horizontal"position and tosus'tain them thus,a vertical guide flange 23extends lengthwise the platform and around the rear and front end thereof upon which the said carrier arms restas shown and as they )ass toward the fluxing or acid holding tan F designatesthe fluxingtank located at or near the point where the conveyer chain leaves the forward chain wheel and atsuch point the flange '23, on which thecarrier arms are supported as theyapproach the tluxing tank is inclined downwardly asfat- 2t to permit the carrier to tilt down by its own weight to bring the cap or other artii cle to be tinned'intothe fluxing solution.

It. should be here stated that the carriers as they pass from the point where they dischargethe finished product alongthe feed side ofthe machine are. held from rotary position for conveniently placing the caps 1 or other alrticle to be tinned thereon.

25 designates a. short rack that extends manner of provide "for 'a thorough immersion ot the the soldering bath,

,the cams.

lengtln'viso of the machine and is so located with respect to the inclined or guide portion 24, that the gear-head of the chuck meshes with it so soon as the front end of the carrier about to dip into the liuxing solution, butbefore the carrier has swung down to the limitcfim dipping thrust. a

l By reason ot'such cor-relative arrangement of the severalparts, it will be apparent by reierring now to Fig. 1 that as the convcyer and carier now advance, I=-the carrier will be, completely rotated in a forward direction :and "as. it does the hollow "sideiof the-cap will be dipped f tln'ough the solution in'the ipping acup and thus not only cap,but also the bringing o't' the cap back to its upright :position to be in position to be similarly dipped when it is passed through T o positively holdw'the-carrier with its cap dipped duringt-he rotation thereof, the end of the rod 20 "engages a guide 26 which it disengages as soon as the gear head leaves the rack, and the carrier arms engage the upwardly inclined guide 24 which raises the carrier up out of the flux and in position for engaging the shaker mechanism.

Immediately after the carrier leavesthe guide 24, the transverse giudeblock b enters a throatway formed by theguides 27-27 of the first shaking mechanism, the construction of which is clearly Shown in Figs. -8, 9 and 10, and which generally consists of two sets of upright posts 28-28 disposed in the longitudinal plane of the machine and that straddle the drive shaft of the machine.

,Uponthese postsare mounted sleeves 29-29 ones 30 of which bend down and carry the upper guide ZT t-he other guide 27 being joined to the front ends of thelower cross plates 31 as clearly shown in Fig. 9, from which, and Fig. 8, it will be. also observed the drive shaft carriesa pair of rotary knocker cams 32-32, adapted to impart. a sharp vibratory movement to the guide carrying plates 30 and 31 by engaging a connecting bar 34 that. joins the lower cross plates 31, carrying impacting rollers 35-3.'5, with which. the" cams 32 intermittently 'engageto joltthe guides Q7-27 vertically and thereby impart sudden vibratory or shaking motions to the carrier during the timeits block 6*" passes between the guides 27-27% the return movement to the said guides beinge ffected by stout springs 36.

To avoid "a too sudden impact or jarof the carriers that might tend to injure them or throw otft-he caps,the impacting rollers may: be in the nature of cushion rollers, which would effect a certain amount. of resiliency in the impacts or sudden blows of is in its upright position and elevated, an in the desired position to be carried to and immersed in the soldering bath B, which.

operation is automatically effected as follows: As the inner end of the carrier'passes from between the shaking guides 2727 the member 6 engages an upwardly inclined guide 10, which causes that; part of the guide arms inadvance rotary gear head to engage an outer guide 41 having a downwardly inclined depression 41 which imparts a partial forward rotary movement to the carrier whereby to bring the closed end of the cap to face the soldering bath and bring the rotary gear head into meshwith a secondraek member 42, thereby giv--:

mg a. complete rotation to the capas it is passed through the solder, the said partshaving such correlative arrangement that so soon the -gear head disengages the 'rack the carrier arms engage an upwardly inclined guide to lift the cap outtof the solder, and. bring its guide block b in position to pass between the'oppositely disposedguides 13-453? ofa second shaking mechanism 44, the construction of which and its operation is precisely similar to that of the first shaking devices hereinbeforedescribed, said devices freeing the carrierand the capof;the;surplus solder,v it being understood that during the eutireoperation of passing the cap through. the ilu-xing bath F, soldering. bath B and the two sets of shaking mechanisms, the said cap isheld firmly gripped by the carrier arms. I y

From the vvsecond shaking devices the tinned cap is passed to cooling means, and since the setting of the'solder is ra-pid,to

prevent the capadhering or becoming sol dered to the said carrier arms, I provide for releasing the gripof the carrier fingers on the cap immediately illitlille carriers leave the second set of shaking (lOVKOS and for that purpose, immediately after the inner end of the carrier passes from between theguides 4343 ;the,front end engages an up} wardly inclinedgnide 44s that brings the carriers back to a horizontal position and the rear head 20:v inv position to engage with the uncamming or drawingin devices that pull the carrier arm spreader back.

In the drawings, see Figs. 11, 12 and 13,1

have shown the drawing in devices in the nature of a slotted guide 45 into which the neck of the rear spreaderextension passes, see Fig. 11, and which is positioned to draw on the spreader rod and pull the spreader vhead back to thenormal position see :12, Fig.

3, and thus now leave the cap loosely mounted on the-carrier fingers and in position to pass between-the opposing'perforated dischar e faces 46 of apair of oppositely dispose blast chambers 46 curved on an arc concentric with the axis of the rear conveyer belt wheel, whereby to provide for a long cooling blast on the tinned cap and sufficient to dry the same before it passes to the discharging point,-which is located in the front or feed side of the machine, see Fig 16, by reference to which it will be seen that during the time thecaps are passing the air discharging devices, the carrier arms are vsustained on the guide flange 23. As the carriers pass around to the front or feed side of the machine with their arms resting flatwise upon the flange 23, the gear of the a shortdistance when the chuck head gear engages another short rack 47 in line with another notch 23 in the flange, and is turned upt i-in-position to receive a new cap, it being understood when it assumes the last stated position the arms of the chuck head gear engage the' guide. 23 that holds the carriers from rotation. 7

The fluxing and solder tanks F and B in practice. are suitably mounted, the tank B over a furnace in any approved manner. In the drawing I have shown them mounted on a skeleton frame 50 on which is also supported a furnace 51 which is preferably heated through themedium of gas burners.

By reason of providing for turning the cap to enter the soldering material, open end first, all danger of an imperfect covering of both inside and outside of the cap is avoided. This is an advantageous feature, since, should the cap be drawn through the solder closed end first, there would be danger of splashing, which would prevent a full How of the solder over the entire inner surface.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying d rawings, it is believed the complete construction and operation of my i'nachine will be readily apparrnt.

\Vnile as a convenient means of disclosing my invention I have shown the parts of my machine combined in the manner illustrated in the drawings, I desire it understood that I do not restrict. myself to the exact construction and arrangement of the parts as shown is required formanipulating the same since materially modified or varied without departing from my invention.

By reason the the general correlation of parts, they can be economically made and assembled and broken portions replaced,

and further, since the operations of conveying, dipping, drying,vicooling and discharging the articles to be retinned are entirely automatic and continuous, 1 no skilled labor all the manual labor that isnccessary,is the placing of the caps on the carrier fingers.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat out, is i conveyer: of a carrier movable with the con veyer, and automatic means formovmg the carrier into the bath andsimultaneously im- Jartin a rotar movement'thereto.

2. A machine of the character "described,

having automatic means-for conveying and immersing the articles to be retinned 1n the coating solutions and another automatic mechanism for shaking said conveying and immersing means .to remove the surplus coating.

3. In a machine of the character described, coating and soldering solutions, automatic means for conveying and forimmersing the article to be tinned in the coating solutions at predetermined times, another automatic I means for adjusting the conveying and immersing means to discharge the finished product, and a means for cooling the tinned product located between the soldering bath and the point of discharge of the finished product.

4;. In a machine of thecharacter described, in which is included a fiuxing and soldering tank, automatic means for gripping the arti cle to be tinned, conveyin it over the said tanks, immersing the artic esinto the tanks as they pass thereover and for shaking off the surplus solder and the surplus flux as they rise up out of the said/tanks.

In a machine of thecharacter described,

in combination with a conveyer, and a carrier joined therewith, and havin means for gripping the article to be tinne of an automatic means for simultaneously moving the carrier to dip the article into. the solder tank and imparting a complete rotation to the said carrier.

(3. The combination with the platform having a vertical guide flange, an endless horizontal conveyer operable within the guide flange, a series of carrier arms havin a hinged connection with the conveyor an having their outer 'ends held to ride on the guide flange, said flange having depressions each chuck head an 1. In a machine of the character. described, in combination with the fluxing bath and a,

in line with the filming and solderingbath whereby to permitthe carriersto automatically dip into and rise out ofthe fiuxing and soldering solutions as they pass thereover.

7. In a machine for retinnmg caps and like hollow bodies, in combination with a carrier to move the cap through the said fluid Withthe open endforward.

8. In a machineof the character described, in combination with an endlessconveyer, a series of chuck heads connected thereto, a carrier rotatably and, ivotally mounted in projected laterally from the conveyor, said carrier having means at the outer end for gripping the article to be tinned, and automatic means for tilting androtating the said carriers at'predetermined times.

9. In a machine ofthe character described, in combination with the supporting frame; a series of chuck heads p'ivotally and rotatahly mounted on the conveyer and projected laterally therefrolma carrier comprising a pair of normally closed spring rods, arms secured to and projected outwardly from. the rotary chuck head, said arms having theirouter ends shaped to support the articlesvtobetinned, a means carried by each chuck for spreading the carrier arms, mechanism on the supporting frame for actuating the spreader means and automatic de vices for tilting the carriers at predetermined times.

10. In a machine of the character described, an endless conveyor, chuck heads pivotally and rotatably mounted on the conveyer and projected laterally therefrom, said chuck head having a central bore, a pair of i normally closed spring rod arms fixedly connected to the chuck head and projected outwardly therefrom, a spreader head movable between the rod arms, and including an extension movable in and projected beyond the chuck head bore, means on the supporting frame for engaging the inner end of the extension and intermittently moving the spreader outwardly and inwardly, and auto matic means-for tilting the carriers at predetermined times.

11. In a machine for the purposes described, in combination with the supporting frame including a flange for supporting the outer ends of the carriers and the endless conveyer; a series of chuck heads pivotally and rotatably mounted on the conveyor, said chuck head including an ontwari'lly extended cylindrical gear head, having a flattened portion adapted to engage with the supporting flange at predetermined times to hold the chuck head from rotation, said carriers in .clndingarms projected outvardly from the chuck heads and automatic means for tilting. the carriers at predetermined times.

12. in a machine of the character described, an endless conveyer, a drive shaft for actuating it, a series of carrier arms projected laterally from and pivotally connected to the conveyer to tilt vertically, automatic means for tilting said carriers at predeterminedtimes, a shaking mechanism aotuated by the drive shaft with which the inner ends of the carriers engage after they are tilted upwardly out of the baths.

13. In combination with the conveyer, the carriers pivotally connected thereto and projected laterally therefrom, said carriers including a guide portion at the inner end, a shaking mechanism consisting of a vertically reciprocable frame having a guideway with which the guides on the inner ends of the carriers engage when the carriers are swinging up out of the baths.

14. In a machine of the character described, in combination with the supporting frame, the endless conveyer and the laterally projected carriers pivotally and rotatably connected to the conveyors to swing vertically; a rest flange on the frame for supporting the outer ends of the carriers, said flange having a pair of V-shaped notches in its bearing edge and means for engaging the inner ends of the carriers to friotionally hold their outer ends to engage in the V-shaped notches whereby to rotate the carriers first to a discharging position and then to a receiving position.

15. A machine for'the purposes described, comprising an endless conveyer, carriers adjnstably connected therewith, and projected rise up out of the coating baths and a means for cooling the tinned articles after they 1 leave the soldering bath, and a drive mechanism for effecting a continuous successive operation to the several means stated.-

16. In a machine of the character described, an automatic means for conveying the articles to be finished toward and immersing them in the coating solutions, then shaking the coated articles, then [cooling them, then discharging the finished product, and a drive mechanism for effecting the several operations successively and uninterruptedly.

17. In a machine of the character described,'an endless conveyer, rotatable and pivoted carriers connected thereto, means for tilting the carriers to dip in the fluxing and soldering tanks, and automatic means for imparting a rotary motion to the carriers as they are dipped in the said tanks.

18. In a machine of the character de-' scribed. in combination with a fluxing bath and a carrier; automatic means for moving the carrier into the bath an d imparting a rotary movement thereto while in the bath.

. ALFRED L. BERNARDIN.

Witnesses:

FRED G. DiETERICH, "ELLA MAcCoRMIoK. 

